Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving
Originally uploaded by deirdred75.

Nathaniel attended his first holiday party yesterday, at our now annual Thanksgiving in London celebration. Mom (that's Granny for Nathaniel) spent two days preparing a lavish feast. I didn't manage to lend as much of a hand as I wanted, just squeezing in Brussels sprout prep in between attempts to get Nathaniel to nap. It was a fantastic feast for our family and friends in London (including a few Brits and a South African who now know the joy of pumpkin pie). Nathaniel was a very good boy, spending a lot of time on shoulders and sitting in his chair for the main feast so I could enjoy lashings of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. He conveniently decided to nurse for the clean up phase and everyone was very nice, bringing me slices of pie and Cava to enjoy as I sat with him.

A Room of One's Own

Nathaniel's Room
Originally uploaded by deirdred75.

On Sunday night, Doug dismantled the crib/cot in our room and reassembled it in Nathaniel's room, complete with his symphony mobile and a few stuffed animal friends (MoMo* the lion and the Snowman made the cut). Suddenly his room was transformed from a glorified changing station into a real nursery. We prepped him for bed and after his usual two hour bedtime routine, he was asleep in his own bed and his own room. I cranked up the monitor to 10, propped it as close to my head as possible and went to bed down the hall from him. He woke at three for a short feed, at four for gas relief and another quick snack and then through till around 7:30 in the morning. We were back to having our own room and Nathaniel took the first of many steps toward independence.

*MoMo is a lion from Harrods who arrived by special delivery before Dad even understood that someone named Nathaniel E. Smith was living at his house. Mohammed Al-Fayed (or MoMo to his fans) owns Harrods, along with FFC.

The many moods of Nathaniel

Smiling is all the rage these days. He smiles at all of us, he smiles at his stuffed animals (Doug insists on that appelation, I myself would call them all dolls), he smiles at the walls of his pram.
Here is a smiley Nathaniel looking very apple cheeked ...

And Nathaniel cracking a small grin at Mom as he refuses to nap ...

Here is a kicking it Nathaniel in yet another of the I hate naps moments.

Nathaniel and Doug have many Daddy time moments together. One of them is singing Herman's Hermits songs together.
Here Nathaniel is puzzling out the maritial relations represented in that all time classic 'Henry the Eighth.'

In this one, Doug is working hard to teach Nathaniel the principles and pleasures of thumbsucking.

And last but not least, because no baby photo album is complete without bathing baby shots. I offer two today (Doug put his foot down on the full frontal version. That will be saved for other future embarassing occasions.) Nathaniel has now decided that being naked is no longer an assault on his person and dignity and has been warming to bath time. For the past two weeks he has greeted bathing with cautious suspicion. Today he cracked a big grin when we lowered him into the bath.
Here is an example of his guarded enjoyment.

There is still relief in the post bath moment.

Finally the Smile

On Sunday afternoon, as I spent my 100th hour sticking my smiling visage in his face I noticed that he seemed to respond with a smile of his own. Now up until this point, Nathaniel had not given me a full blown conscious smile. He was smiling in his sleep, in his semi-conscious drifing to sleep phase, and at my breast while feeding, but I still hadn't gotten an honest to goodness fully awake directed at my face smile. Friends of ours have children his age who were smiling big bright smiles at the world. In the dark moments of motherhood I became convinced that my son would never smile, either because a) I was a terrible mother and had given my son no moments of happiness about which to smile; or b) our son's indigestion and gas was making him so unhappy he was incapable of having a happy awake moment (which was of course somehow related to me being a terrible and incompetent mother).

I was elated then on Sunday but secretely convinced I had imagined a grimace into a smile out of sheer want. But the next morning he woke up in a great mood and while staring intently at my face he rewarded me with three smiles in succession. I got all teary eyed with joy. Since then he has rewarded Doug, his grandmother, and his Aunt Fiona all with beatific smiles that are just the most beautiful thing to behold. Here is him getting ready to smile while taking a ride in his pram yesterday.

Now lest you think that our little boy is suddenly becoming some frivolous little smiler, fear not. Our serious little boy has not left us. Here is Nathaniel in a much more solemn mood ... I think he looks like some Roman emperor contemplating the fate of his minions.

And last but not least in the pantheon of Nathaniel faces there is fussy.

Looking at you

Looking at you
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

This appears to be Nathaniel's third expression, but I don't know what it means. His other two are suspicion and contempt. But he loves each and every one of you anyway.

Playtime

Playtime
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

Here's Nathaniel playing, which consists either of staring intently at high-contrast images, or yelling for more food. No prizes for guessing which one this is.

The tube

The tube
Originally uploaded by dyrlac.

Yesterday we trekked all the way to Stoke Newington (in North East London) where our National Childbirth Trust classes met for our reunion. Proving our superiority as parents, Nathaniel was dressed in big boy clothes. Here we are in Monument Station, about half-way through our two hour long journey.